Today I make it my mission (after I get the kids to the bus), to take pictures of the cold. I hate winter. I hate Christmas. And New Year stopped being fun after I was about 7. I was born the day before Summer Solstice, and wintertime, well, it just offends me.

So what the hell am I doing in Northern Alberta? Obviously, it’s not for the weather, or for the terrific community planning. It’s the bloody money, duh.

Back to my miserable rant about the weather.

Most animals are asleep somewhere warm… not these guys.

At -13 (current temp), there are still a few die-hard wackjobs out there jogging. Jogging! At -15, if you park your car outdoors and your vehicle is warm and it’s snowing, the snow melts and re-freezes in a solid layer of ice all over. Your doors will be frozen shut, your windshield wipers will be stuck, and you may actually be forced to… (shudder) SCRAPE.After about -28 (that’s 18 degrees to my friends south of the border), the moisture in the air is totally gone. So instead of the crunch crunch sound, the snow makes a horrible squeaking noise, kind of like rubbing styrofoam packing pieces against a cardboard box. It sets my teeth on edge just thinking about it.

Sunrise 8:20 am (ish) overlooking the stupidest parking lot in the history of ever (Mac’s in Eagle Ridge)

After that, there turns out to be no easily discernible difference in temperature. There comes a certain point in the cold where the difference in temperature means freezing to death is only a few seconds one way or the other.

On the flipside- there is nothing quite so satisfying as being the first to tromp through a snow covered field. Even if it has to effing squeak.